


Police Department Intensive Martial Arts Boot Camp

by vivvav



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-19 13:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: Makoto is given the opportunity to attend a new experimental police martial arts training program. It will be the hardest thing she's done since joining the force.





	1. The Other Policewoman

The life of the average Japanese police detective wasn’t particularly full of action. Unlike the movies Makoto had grown up on, there wasn’t ever much cause to use her gun, she never had to fight her way through an entire room full of thugs, and the odd motorcycle chase she did get into was just some punk kid any other bike cop could’ve handled and not somebody running drugs or something. Even dealing with the yakuza was less taking down the organization itself and mostly a matter of getting tips about lesser operations running on the big boys’ turf. It sickened Makoto to let some of the veteran members she knew had committed horrible atrocities just walk free after essentially being told to go solve a problem for them like an attack dog, but she just wasn’t in a position to change that part of the system yet.

And then she was told about the new intensive martial arts program. According to Makoto’s boss, some high-ranking official from the National Police Agency Security Bureau wanted to hold an intensive training retreat for key police officers to improve their hand-to-hand combat skills. They were starting with a trial program of twelve people, and Makoto’s commanding officer had nominated her for the program as she was already one of the most adept martial artists among the Tokyo police force. And so, craving a little excitement, Makoto bid farewell to Ren and headed off to Yakushima.

Oddly enough, the dozen trainees were not all brought to Yakushima at once, but told to make their own travel arrangements. When Makoto arrived to the location of the camp — a converted Kirijo Group facility on loan to the police, she didn’t find anybody to greet her, but a bunch of envelopes taped to the front door. One had her name on it, and the rest had other names that she assumed were the other police members who had been enrolled in the program. A few envelopes were missing, presumably taken by other participants who had already arrived. Makoto took her envelope and tried to open the front door, but it was locked. Makoto looked down at her envelope in confusion, noticing “read before entry” written in fine print. Inside the envelope was a letter.

_Welcome, Detective Makoto Niijima, to Day 1 of the Police Department Intensive Martial Arts Boot Camp. This is a new experimental training program for skilled officers looking to elevate their physical abilities to a superhuman level. Please be warned that this is a more severe training regimen than ever conceived by man or beast, and that your participation in this boot camp has a not-insignificant chance of death._

“What!?” Makoto’s eyes stuck on the word ‘death’ for a moment. “Are they serious!? Shouldn’t that be the kind of the kind of thing that you’re warned about before flying all the way out to Yakushima?”

_Perhaps you are wondering why you were not warned of this before flying all the way out to Yakushima. This is a test of courage. Had you been made aware of this possibility prior to departure, you could have had time to mull it over. This program is designed for those brave enough to leap into action at a moment’s notice. This is your only chance to enroll in this program. Should you prove unwilling to brave the danger, the back of this letter contains a phone number that when called will summon a car to take you to a hotel for the night and arrange for you to return home tomorrow. But if you do, you will never be given the opportunity to partake in this program in future years, even if you change your mind later._

_If you accept these conditions, please use the provided pen to sign your name on the attached waiver relieving the Security Bureau of any responsibility for injuries or death you may sustain during this training camp and insert it into the slot next to the door. The choice is yours. Do you have what it takes to become superhuman?_

Makoto took a look at the waiver. Although she wasn’t as versed in reading legalese as her sister was, it was clear to Makoto that this document was legitimate. This was the most insane thing Makoto had encountered since joining the department. More than any criminal she’d gone up against or any red tape. There was no way in hell any normal person was dedicated enough to put up with this kind of deception and danger, even if they were an enthusiast.

But then again, Makoto wasn’t a normal person. It had been many years, but she’d fought against greater dangers than most people could ever dream of facing. She was a Persona user. She was Queen of the Phantom Thieves. She WAS superhuman once. And she had to admit, it’d be nice to be that again.

Makoto signed the waiver and inserted it in the slot next to the door. There was a buzzing sound, and the door opened. Makoto was greeted by a split hallway and a wall with two signs, one a proper plaque affixed to the wall, the other a temporary paper sign taped to the bottom of the plaque. The plaque had the right arrow pointing to the barracks and a left arrow pointing towards the training facilities. The paper sign informed her to head to the room with her name on it until summoned. Makoto headed down the right hallway and found a six doors with names on them on each wall. Makoto found her room near the end of the hall to her left, feeling a little nervous as she reached for the doorknob.

“KI-YAH!”

Makoto turned around as she heard the familiar sound of a punching bag being hit come from behind her. It was followed by a series of rapid hits and shouts, all coming from the door across from hers. Makoto looked at the name on the door. Whoever this ‘Chie Satonaka’ was, she sure seemed to have a lot of energy. And unless this woman brought her own punching bag with her, that meant that Makoto would have some workout equipment in her room. And considering all the skulduggery involved with this program so far, she figured she could work off some nervous energy herself.

The door to Makoto’s room required a little force to open, the freshly-painted door sticking to the frame. Makoto pushed against it with her whole body and the door made a loud cracking sound as she stumbled into the room. And she stood in the doorway and took in the room — complete with a small bed, some free weights, a yoga mat, a punching bag, and a pull-up bar hanging from the ceiling, she heard the sound of a door opening behind her.

“Alright!” a woman’s voice shouted. “Another recruit! And another woman, too!”

Makoto turned around to see a woman with light brown hair and a big grin poking her head out the door across from her. She gave a cheerful wave.

“Hiya!”

“Hello.” Makoto gave a much more reserved wave back. “Chie Satonaka, I presume.”

“Wow…” Chie stepped out of the door fully. She was shorter than Makoto (though that wasn’t saying much), and wearing a green tracksuit with a yellow smiley face sewn on the left side of the chest. She was staring at Makoto in amazement. “How’d you know?”

“Your name was on the door.”

“Oh! Right!” Chie rapped her knuckles against her head and stuck out her tongue. “What’s your name?”

Makoto stepped back into the hall and closed the door to her room enough to reveal the nameplate on the door. Chie leaned forward and squinted her eyes.

“‘Makoto… Niijima…’” Chie’s eyes widened. “Oh! I’ve heard of you!”

“You have?”

“Yeah! You’re that woman detective from Tokyo! No wonder you noticed my name on the door so quickly!”

_“You really don’t need to be a detective to notice that”_ Makoto thought.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to be a detective! But I’m still not there yet. I’m just a sergeant.”

“Well, maybe after this boot camp, you’ll be able to move up in the ranks” Makoto said uneasily.

“I hope so.” Chie’s shoulders sagged. “Everything’s so slow in Inaba, I don’t think I’ll ever make a bust big enough to get promoted if I just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

“You’re from Inaba?” Makoto took a step towards Chie. “I have a friend who lives there.”

“You do?” Chie perked up again. “Who are they? I bet I know them!”

“Have you ever met a man named Kanji Tatsumi?”

“No way! You know Kanji-Kun!?”

“You sound close.”

“Oh yeah, we’ve been friends for years. He was my junior in high school! How do you know him?” Chie’s face suddenly became struck with worry. “Wait, he didn’t get in trouble during some trip to Tokyo, did he!?”

“Nothing of the sort.” Makoto couldn’t help from chuckling. Chie Satonaka may have had an unconventional personality for a police officer, but her demeanor reminded Makoto of a few of her friends. “We’re both fans of Buchimaru-Kun.”

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like the kind of cutesy thing Kanji likes.” Chie snickered. “I didn’t expect to find somebody into something girly like that at boot camp.”

“Be that way. You’re missing out.” Makoto crossed her arms and turned up her nose. “Maybe one of the other ten recruits will meet your expectations.”

“Eight.”

“Excuse me?”

“I showed up at the same time as two other guys. They read that letter and called for the car.” Chie leaned back against the wall. “It’s a shame. They looked like strong guys. I really wanted to spar with them.”

“So the herd’s already thinning.” Makoto sighed. “I can’t say I blame them. There’s something very ominous about all this. First being told we could die, then being told to go to our rooms and wait to be called out.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of creepy. I guess they’re waiting until everyone’s here to start initiation or whatever, but- OH CRAP!”

“What!?”

“We’re out in the hallway! We were told to go to our rooms and stay there until we were called! What if leaving our rooms gets us kicked out!?”

“Somehow I doubt it’s a problem. I’m sure they just don’t want us roaming around the facility before the program starts.”

“I hope you’re right.” Chie took a step back into her room just to be safe. “It’d suck to get specially invited to this program just to get kicked out at the beginning.”

“I still don’t think we’re breaking any rules, but I understand your concern.” Makoto adjusted her headband. “It’d be especially bad after my superiors went to the trouble to nominate me for this program in the first place.”

“‘Nominate’?” Chie raised an eyebrow. “You mean you didn’t get a special invitation?”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, I got this fancy envelope telling me I had been chosen as the first candidate for some new special training camp.” Chie scratched her head. “My boss thought it was a prank and had to call somebody up the chain to confirm it was real. Are you telling me it wasn’t like that for you too?”

“No. I had to include video of myself sparring some fellow police as part of my application.”

“Oh.”

There was a long, awkward silence, the two looking away from each other. Makoto wasn’t quite sure what was going on in Chie’s head, but she was beginning to wonder if anyone else here had been specially invited and what the ratio of applicants vs. invitees was. Finally, Chie broke the silence.

“Well, it’s been nice meeting you, but I’m gonna go back to practicing my kicks now.”

“Your kicks?”

“Yup!” Chie raised her left foot above her head effortlessly and smacked her right leg. “Gotta keep these babies in top condition for this camp! I’m not gonna get anywhere if I don’t bring my A-game!”

Makoto stared dumbfounded as Chie retreated into her room and shut the door. As the battle cries started up again, Makoto’s heart began pounding. The sounds of hits coming from Chie’s room were rapid. Before meeting her, Makoto had assumed that she was just punching the bag, putting in some standard exercise to kill time. But kicks were another story. To be able to land kicks with that kind of speed and still make such a powerful-sounding impact was something that didn’t seem possible. Makoto had never met a martial artist with that kind of power and speed in their legs. Not her father, not any of her teachers, not even Sae at the height of her kickboxing practice. And this woman had been specially invited by the mysterious organizer of this boot camp, the man or woman who warned everyone who showed up that death was a strong possibility. And it was possible that Chie was kidding or even lying, but she didn’t seem like the type. Chie Satonaka was a far cry from the brightest person Makoto had ever met, but she also seemed completely genuine in everything she said. If everything was as it seemed to be, Makoto had just encountered the most powerful and skilled martial artist she’d ever met in her life. Somebody who was likely far beyond Makoto’s level.

And Makoto wanted nothing more than to fight her.


	2. The Instructor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto meets the man who's put this entire program together.

About two hours later an announcement rang through the halls telling everyone to report to the main training facility. Makoto and Chie both emerged from their rooms, seeing six other cops come out of the remaining doors in the hallway. All eight of them moved as an unsteady crowd, complete silence among them. The other hallway led to several doors, one of which opened to a field outside. What could normally be considered a beautiful sunny day in Yakushima instead had blinding sunlight shining directly into the crowd’s eyes as they meandered out of the building.

“Only eight?” A man’s voice asked from behind them. “I was hoping we’d start with a full dozen.”

“No way!” As the crowd looked behind them to see where the voice was coming from, Chie scanned the area excitedly. “I know that voice!”

“Up here, recruits!”

Everyone followed the voice to see a man standing on top of the building they had just exited. And not just any man. Makoto had never seen anything like him before. He was tall — taller than her, even — with a couple scars on his face including some bald spots where it looked like he couldn’t grow his silver hair anymore. His torso was wrapped in a red, tattered cape, though even obscured Makoto got the impression that his body was strong. The man leaped into the air and did a flip, twisting in the process and landing on the other side of the crowd, facing them. Now that he was closer, he looked even more bizarre, and everybody gawked at him in silent amazement.

Except for Chie.

“MASTER!”

“Let it out!” the man yelled.

The sound of helicopter blades approaching caused everyone to look to the sky. A black chopper appeared in the air above, lowering a large steel crate to the ground 100 feet from the man. As the helicopter let go and flew away, one of the box’s sides dropped off and a loud roar came from the darkness within. Most of the trainees took a few steps back on instinct, Makoto and Chie being the only ones to stand their ground out of curiosity.

There was another roar and a massive bear came barreling out from the metal crate. The man stared it down, opening his cape and assuming a boxing stance. Makoto immediately noticed three things about his body. The first was his muscles. They were the most impressive muscles she’d ever seen. Not the biggest, not even the most toned, but there was something about the way he carried himself even in a relatively still battle-ready position that made her think there was a LOT of power behind them. The second were all of the scars. His head had been a slight indicator, but his torso was host to at least a dozen different scars, all of which seemed to have been sustained in some nasty way. The third and final thing Makoto noticed was a dripping raw steak tied to the man’s chest with a simple rope.

A steak which seemed to be the focus of the charging black bear that was at least twice this mystery man’s size.

“What on Earth!?” Makoto finally found herself taking a step back from the bizarre situation playing before her. “Is he insane!?”

“No.” Chie beamed as the bear neared the man. “Just watch.”

If Makoto didn’t see it with her own eyes she wouldn’t have believed it was happening. When the bear got within a couple feet of the man, he dashed towards it and ducked down so low it almost seemed like his entire body was parallel with the ground. Before the bear could rear up or swipe its paw or even bite at him, he was inches from it, his entire body shooting up vertically and landing an uppercut on the beast’s chin. The bear’s roaring stopped immediately and rose with the punch, its bashed chin charting a course upwards that the rest of its body followed like a sandbag. Makoto’s jaw dropped as the bear’s back paws actually rose a few feet off the ground and time seemed to slow down, the silver-haired man smirking as his the bear’s chin finally slid off of his fist. Time resumed its normal pace as the bear came down onto the ground back-first with a heavy thud and just lay there, completely unconscious.

Makoto stared at the scene before her mouth agape as the man turned towards the group. A hundred thoughts were running through her mind at once, trying to make sense of the seemingly-impossible feat of strength she had just witnessed.

“My name…” the man started to say, “is Akihiko Sanada. The creature you see lying on the ground is not a trained bear. It is a real wild animal shipped from America.” Akihiko tugged the steak out from under the rope holding it to his chest. “After high school, I spent several years traveling the world honing my strength to create the world’s most perfect punches. I succeeded, and now I’m here to guide you all to do the same.” Akihiko bit into the steak, tearing a bloody chunk off and chewing it slowly. “Any questionsh?”

“Um…” A younger, babyfaced man next to Makoto raised his hand. “Are you saying we’ll be able to punch out a bear by the end of this training?”

“What’s your name, recruit?” Akihiko asked.

“Officer Sasuke Ito, sir. I’m from Nara.”

“Well Ito, to answer your question, yes. By the end of these two weeks, I expect you to be able to hold your own against a bear.”

“Follow-up question, sir?”

“Go ahead.”

“Will we be required to actually fight the bear?”

“You know, I haven’t really decided yet…” Akihiko scratched his head and tore off another bite of the steak.

“One final question, sir?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it too late to drop out of the program?”

“No…” Akihiko swallowed. “But I don’t see why you’d want to.”

“Well… I want to.”

“Ok…” Akihiko grabbed the bear by its hind legs and started pulling it back towards the crate. “I think it’s a shame to drop out before we’ve even begun, but I understand that some of you may not be able to tough out the program in the long run, so you’ll find the phone number for a car away from here inside your room. Just remember that if you try and discuss the details of this program with anybody outside of it, you’ll face disciplinary action.”

“Thank you, sir.” Ito walked back into the building as quickly as he could. A moment later, another member of the lineup followed him. Akihiko sighed as he threw the rest of the steak into the crate with the bear and closed it back up.

“So, we’re down to half already, huh?” Akihiko shook his head. “Does anybody else have any questions?”

“I do.” Makoto raised her hand.

“Name?”

“Detective Makoto Niijima. Tokyo.” Makoto cleared her throat. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but who exactly are you?”

“What do you mean?” Akihiko raised his eyebrow. “I just told you. I’m Akihiko Sanada.”

“Yes, but what’s your rank? And what is this program exactly?” Makoto looked at the crate. “I came here believing that perhaps we were going to learn some advanced hand-to-hand techniques. I’m afraid that the longer I’m here the less sense I can make of this boot camp’s purpose.”

“Well, to answer your first question, I’m an agent of the Public Safety Commission whose job is to oversee and act as an envoy to specialized departments that deal with top-secret matters of national security. The purpose of this boot camp is for me to pound my special brand of training into you all and see if there are any promising candidates for advancement to those specialized departments.”

“Aren’t there more conventional application methods for these security agencies? I’m not entirely certain a clandestine training camp is the best method to-”

“Detective Niijima, I understand your confusion, but all those considerations are for me to worry about, not you. You should be focused on the training.”

“Of course, sir.” Makoto bowed. “I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries.”

“It’s fine. Now, if there are no more questions…” Akihiko waited for a second and stared at the group. When nobody spoke up, he continued. “Now then, for starters, I’d like to see what I’m working with here. We’ll begin today by having each of you trying to hit me for thirty seconds. And before any of you get all freaked out about fighting me, know that I won’t be fighting back. I’ll limit myself to blocking and dodging so I can get a feel for how you move.” Akihiko pointed at Chie. “Satonaka, you’re up first.”

“Alright!” Chie ran up to Akihiko and raised one leg off the ground. “You better be ready, Master! I’ve gotten a lot stronger since the last time you saw me!”

“I’m counting on it.” Akihiko raised his fists. “Your time starts now!”

Chie immediately lashed out with her raised leg, delivering seven speedy consecutive kicks all without lowering her leg. Makoto watched with interest as Akihiko absorbed the blows with his gloved hands, witnessing the inhuman instructor tank what must have been the same kicks she heard coming from Chie’s room earlier. Seeing that she wasn’t breaking his guard, Chie changed tactics and dropped down to the ground, trying to knock Akihiko over with a sweeping kick. Akihiko cooly stepped over the sweep one foot after another, only moving a couple inches off the ground, which was good because he needed his roots firmly in the ground to hold against the sudden handstand into a cartwheel kick that Chie launched at his torso. Akihiko managed to guard with his arms, but the force still pushed him back a little, and Chie took advantage of the newfound space to jump into a dropkick aimed for his face. Fearing a simple block would shove his own fists into his face, Akihiko pushed back against Chie’s feet, but instead of getting thrown off and falling to the ground, Chie bent her legs and began to tuck her body forward as she connected and used his hands as a base to jump up into the air and come down with a flying axe kick.

Makoto watched in disbelief as what should’ve been a physics-defying maneuver worked, the extra height and power of the kick smashing through Akihiko’s guard and bringing Chie’s foot right down on the top of his head. Moments ago she had seen this man exhibit enough power to take down a beast that could run 40 miles per hour like it was nothing, and now this tiny woman had built up enough momentum in the air to break through his defenses and hurt the man who was offering them all a superhuman power presumably only he had attained.

Akihiko didn’t fall from the hit, and as Chie resumed her onslaught of kicks, Makoto started to space out as he continued to block them. For years, the strongest fighter she’d ever met outside the Metaverse was her sister, and although they hadn’t sparred in years and Makoto could probably win now as Sae had fallen out of practice, in Makoto’s mind her older sister’s strength was still the pinnacle of what somebody could achieve in martial arts save for the most dedicated of monks.

Well, Akihiko Sanada was no monk. And neither was Chie Satonaka. And yet despite being working members of the police force with all the regular responsibilities that entails, they somehow attained this unreal level of power. Makoto had never gone through the kind of training that could result in this intense fight before her. She never could’ve even conceived of such training being possible. But here were the results. Right in front of her.

A new peak of strength far beyond what her sister had achieved.

“Alright.” Akihiko jumped back from Chie’s final kick. “That’s time.”

“30 seconds already?” Chie pouted. “I was just getting warmed up!”

“You’ll get your chance to do more later, Satonaka.” Akihiko looked towards the other recruits. “But right now, it’s time for me to see what else I’m working with. Who’s next?”

“I’d like to go next!” Makoto’s hand shot up into the air.

“Good enthusiasm, Niijima.” Akihiko waved Makoto over. “C’mon, show me what you can do.”

Makoto approached Akihiko and took a basic fighting stance. Akihiko got ready as well, but he seemed less guarded than when he faced Chie.

“Begin whenever” he said.

Makoto wasted no time throwing a punch. Akihiko dodged simply by swaying to the side, not even needing to sidestep her. Makoto tried to follow up with a few more punches, but none of them connected, Akihiko calmly avoiding them without ever moving his feet. Makoto tried to mix things up with a roundhouse kick, which Akihiko ducked under. Then a combo of two punches and a kick, which finally made Akihiko step out of the way a little, although he hardly seemed phased.

Makoto felt a jealous rage starting to build inside of her. She knew that there was a gap between her and Chie, but whereas the leg-slinging firebrand kept their new instructor on his toes the whole time, Akihiko didn’t seem to consider Makoto a threat in the slightest. And it wasn’t as if Makoto expected to prove a challenge for the man who just punched out a bear in front of her, but she couldn’t be this far behind, could she?

Makoto’s attacks sped up. Akihiko kept dodging them just as easily as he had before. Every punch drove through air, every kick found itself wanting for a target.

_“Just one hit.”_

Makoto tried grabbing one of Akihiko’s wrists to see if she could pull off a shoulder throw but he simply leaned back out of reach.

_“It doesn’t even have to be effective!”_

Makoto got as close as she could to throw up a high kick, but all she had to show for it was sweat and labored breath.

_“I just have to make him block once!”_

“Time.”

Makoto stepped back, having failed to achieve anything. She returned to the lineup quietly, resigning herself to observe the rest of the matches. Thankfully, the remaining four trainees seemed to have as much luck as she did, meaning at least she wasn’t dead last in the class. Within a couple minutes Akihiko was done facing all of them, and approached them all as a group.

“You’re all clearly skilled martial artists, but your styles all have shortcomings.” Akihiko faced Chie first. “Satonaka, it’s fine to specialize in kicks, but try learning how to throw a punch.”

“I can throw a punch just fine!” Chie protested.

“Then mix one in and surprise me next time.” Akihiko turned to Makoto. “Niijima, what is your primary martial arts discipline?”

“Aikido, sir.”

“Ah.” Akihiko scratched his chin and nodded. “That explains it. Aikido’s mostly a reactionary art, which doesn’t do you too well when your opponent isn’t attacking. It seems like you were mostly attacking me with improvised maneuvers, right?”

“I’ve tried my best to incorporate techniques outside of my core discipline without any formal training.”

“It shows. Your personal fighting style seems to be covering all your bases, but not much else. You’ve got a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ approach to fighting.” Akihiko stared into Makoto’s eyes, and she never felt smaller. “You should make it your goal to master everything.”

Everything after that became background noise as Akihiko moved on to give his appraisal of the other candidates. He started addressing the whole group again, and Makoto processed it, but she wasn’t really there. Serious training would start tomorrow at 5 AM. Due to a shipping delay the food for the special training diet hadn’t arrived yet but there should be a box of protein bars in everyone’s room to tide them over for the night. Makoto understood all of this, but none of it rang terribly important to her. As she headed back to her room, two words rang in her head over and over.

_“Master everything.”_

As Makoto bit into one of those protein bars, she didn’t focus on the little bits of chocolate present or the settling of her growling stomach, but those words again.

_“Master everything.”_

Images flashed in Makoto’s head. Akihiko’s insanely low launch before his uppercut. Chie’s consecutive kicks that the instructor had no choice but to block against.

_“Master everything.”_

Makoto looked to the punching bag in her room and tried to copy Chie’s maneuver. She could only get in two kicks before having to lower her leg to keep her balance, and they were nowhere near as fast or powerful.

_“Master everything.”_

Makoto began kicking again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure everyone saw this coming so now I just have to make it as crazy as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning this one for a long time. I'm sure a bunch of you can already guess where some of this is going, but it's gonna be wild.


End file.
